Here you will find some short biographies (Biogz) of solo artists whose surname commences with this letter or bands with names commencing with this letter (omitting any commonly used prefix such as 'The').

A British beat group not to be confused with an American group of the same name that had an instrumental hit in 1965 with ‘No Matter What Shape’.

Gary Farr (whose father was British Heavyweight Boxing champion Tommy Farr) played folk & blues around the pubs and clubs in Worthing/Sussex area and formed ‘The T-Bones’ in february 1964 in Brighton, Sussex.They followed in the illustrious footsteps of ‘The Rolling Stones’ and ‘The Yardbirds’ when they won a residency at The Crawdaddy Club in London and took ‘The Yardbirds’ residency at ‘The Marquee Club’ In London too. In fact they also shared their manager (Giorgio Gomelsky) with The Yardbirds.

Although Keith Emerson was a member for a time, the only recording to which he contributed ‘Together Forever’ was never released. Failing to make any kind of chart impression, they split in December 1966.

Later Farr had a solo career and appeared at The Isle Of Wight Festivals in 1969 & 1970. Sadly he died in Los Angeles in August 1994.

High energy disco singer Taffy (real name Katherine Quaye) was born in 1963 in New York. She was best known in the UK for her hit single 'I Love My Radio (My Dee Jay's Radio)' (1987) #6 UK chart after success in France with the original version of the same song in 1985.

She had limited success in Italy & Germany between 1984 & 1987 though only charting once more in the UK at #59 with 'Step By Step' in 1987.

Scottish band from the Edinburgh area (previously with 'The Henchmen' - 1966-1968/9).

Dougie & Jake later joined ex-'Bay City Roller' David Paton and ex-'Circle' drummer Ronnie Hogg in 'Fresh', later 'Christian' / 'Christyan'. They were replaced by Neil Mcleod (Guitar) and Kenny Stott (vocals) who dropped the "ny" and called himself Ken Stott and has gone on to have a successful acting career ... The Tandem were a respectable live band with a healthy fan base in Scotland and each member had their own fan base.

[Not to be confused with a band of the same name from Great Yarmouth, despite umpteen internet references to the contrary! The Great Yarmouth 'Tandem' were a 5-piece band, originally called 'The Sons of Fred' - Ghoulz.]

My thanks to Neil McIntosh and to 'marrmrrs' for personnel clarifications

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Described as "Lo-Fi Garage Pop", Tango in the Attic were formed early in 2008 in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. They use various instrumentation including guitars, vintage organs, saxophones and heaps of random percussion and have played various venues across Scotland including 'T in the Park' festival in 2009.

"They're young, they're fresh, they get sweaty onstage and they make an ace noise! 'Tango in the Attic' combine Vampire Weekend's sing-a-longs with Strokes-style riffing topped-off with a real emotional edge. It's all done with Fife accents and tunes to die for. The more I hear from them, the higher I rate them... 'lo-fi east-coast garage' it may be, but that sounds like a very good thing indeed!" - Vic Galloway

"...an energetic performance of their sun-flecked guitar pop...

At the end of summer 2009 Tango In The Attic entered the monomen studio to lay down their first record due for an early summer release in 2010

Traditional Scottish musicians 'The Tannahill Weavers' are named after Scottish poet Robert Tannahill and were formed in Paisley, Scotland in 1968. The group has had many line-up changes, but continues with a strong Celtic flavour in the music, which combines bagpipes and other acoustic instruments with electric sounds.

They have toured and recorded since 1976 and originally practiced in the McKay family's rented Council house at 41 St. Ninian's Road, Hunterhill in Paisley!

Born 2nd March 1949 in Ballyshannon, Donegal, Ireland, Rory’s first ‘proper’ band followed membership of several school bands and was known as ‘The Fontana Showband’ and later as ‘The Impact’.

With 1965 came residencies in Hamburg, playing Chuck Berry covers and the like. 1966 saw the formation of ‘Taste’ with Norman Damery & Eric Kitteringham though they were replaced before long with Richard McCracken (aka Charlie / aka Ritchie) & John Wilson from (from 'Them').

Their eponymous debut album ‘Taste’ (1969) garnered little interest though their second offering, ‘On The Boards’ faired much better with a UK Chart high of #18 and this helped to establish Gallagher’s reputation as a formidable blues guitarist. Taste’s future came to an abrupt halt though when McCracken & Wilson decided they could no longer work with Gallagher once they discovered that Gallagher thought he was 'employing' them. They split in October 1970. The final album was ‘Live Taste’.

McCracken & Wilson went on to form 'Stud' for a short while until McCracken joined the reformed Spencer Davis Group.

Rory wasted no time in releasing his debut solo effort in May 1971 ‘Rory Gallagher' with assistance from Gerry MacAvoy (bass) and Wilgar Campbell (drums) and hit #32 in the process.

Fourteen albums later, including ‘Live In Europe’ (1972) his only top ten UK hit, through to his last, ‘Fresh Evidence’ in 1990, he died of liver transplant complications on 14th June 1995 caused or at least exacerbated by a long serious drink habit.

Rory Gallagher was loved & respected in equal measure by fans & the blues fraternity for his no-nonsense ‘feet on the ground’ personality and professional integrity. He was known as ‘the working man’s guitarist’ for his attitude and appearance as he would usually sport a chequered shirt, jeans & tousled hair.

The following is from my valued contributor Alex Stean:

"Well Ghoulz, my pal and I were talking at the football and about the Rory Gallagher programs that were on TV the other week and this gem came to light."

"When Rory played the Kinema Ballroom with 'Taste' on 2 nights in October 1969, his amplification failed and as they knew local musician Kevin Morris, they contacted him to borrow some equipment and the resulting photograph (above) was taken outside Kevin's house in Primrose Avenue in Rosyth."

Folk singer, songwriter, researcher, Cyril Tawney earned his living as a full time professional folksinger for 45 years (believed to be a record in Britain). He was a submariner in the British Royal Navy and it was in entertaining duties that he found his niche in folk music. He specialised in the traditional songs of the South West of England.

In 1959 he became the only regular serviceman to have his own fully networked TV programme and subsequently he bought his way out of service and began a professional folk singing/song writing career. He is well known for the classic folk song 'Sally Free And Easy'. Born in 1930, Cyril died on Sunday 21st April 2005.

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Tear Gas may have been the first group based in Scotland to release an LP (rather than one made up of Scotsmen). They were also known as 'Fear Gas' because of the volume they produced!

They were also labelled a Scottish 'supergroup', a title that was in vogue at the time since their members had all been in other leading bands. They would later add a certain Alex Harvey to the line-up to become The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

Cleminson and Batchelor had been in a band called the Bo Weavles as guitarist and organist respectively along with Jimmy Brand (drums) and Ricky Archibald (bass) and George Gilmour (vocals).

On the departure of Gilmour to take up theatre work, the band's name was updated to 'Mustard' and the ex-Poet Andy Mulvey took on the vocals. More personnel shake ups saw Munro come in from 'Right Tyme', Glenn from 'Jade', Campbell from the recently defunct Beatstalkers and Dave Batchelor switch to vocals. To emphasise this fresh start, the name was changed again and so it was that in early 1969 - Tear Gas exploded on the Scottish rock scene.

As said, Tear Gas actually got to make (and release!) an LP ('Piggy Go Getter' SFMA 5751) - an unheard of event for a group based in Scotland other than the Alexander Brothers and their like. On the 'Famous G' label.Wullie then joined Berserk Crocodiles and Ted McKenna from the freshly collapsed Dream Police replaced him. Eddie Campbell quit and was not instantly replaced. A second LP, 'Tear Gas' on the Regal Zonaphone label was released by this revised line up.

All tracks on the second LP are 'hard 'n heavy rock'. Again not terribly memorable apart from 'Love Story', a highlight of the stage act, whose arrangement was visited again by SAHB on the 'Penthouse Tapes'. One is left with the feeling that the band was a couple of years behind the times in their material and the union with Alex Harvey was the shot in the arm of originality they needed.

After the failure of the 'Tear Gas' LP, Ted McKenna's cousin, Hugh McKenna, was drafted in on keyboards and backing vocals but Davie Batchelor soon left to go into production - he produced the Sensational Alex Harvey Band stuff. Hugh took over the lead vocals and this is the line-up that returned to Glasgow to join up with Alex Harvey after an unsuccessful stint in London. See The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

Married couple 'Telford & Charmaine' were a Scottish folk duo (though they were never known as such). In fact most clubs made reference to them being "all the way from the USA" as though they had jetted in especially to sing at the Arbroath Folk Club. Fact is Telford was born a Glaswegian but largely brought up in Michigan when the family emigrated there when he was but 10 years of age. The couple began their career in the USA before returning to the UK in the early 60's.

The Temperance Seven were formed at the Royal College of Art during 1957. The band usually had nine members (one over the eight!) and dressed in the style appropriate to the late 1920s jazz they played. The members shown above are typical of those in its chart topping hey-day.

The members generally gave themselves fictitious titles. John R.T. Davies used the pseudonym Sheik Wadi El Yadounir and wore a fez. On the first hit numbers vocals were provided by 'Whispering' Paul McDowell who was replaced later by Allan Moody Mitchell. The band once appeared in Spike Milligan's 'The Bed Sitting Room' and spawned new interest in the styles of the 1920s.

The original group fell apart towards the end of the 1960s, but new personnel- sometimes guested by original members- still play today. However, many members of the original band did re-unite- and play together- briefly for a BBC radio programme about themselves during 2003.

Thelma & The High Seas Showband came from Larne in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland and were resident in the Kings Arms Ballroom in the late 6Os. They also toured Ireland, Scotland and the North of England. They cut the following demo EP: 'I'd Still Be There' / 'I Can't Go On' / 'In My Room' / 'Orange Blossom Special'.

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Thin Lizzy is among rock music's elite and a synonym for classic rock. As one of the first bands to break out of Ireland, Thin Lizzy's music was hard, yet melodic; their lyrics romanticized stories of love, love-lost, and street life as well as Irish folklore. Their signature double guitar lead sound has influenced countless bands beyond the rock genre. With thirteen albums to their credit, they have had over fourteen top 20 hits in Europe while classic tracks such as "The Boys Are Back In Town," "Jailbreak," and "Cowboy Song" having become staples of American rock radio.

Formed in 1969 by Dublin school chums Phil Lynott and Brian Downey, Thin Lizzy scored their first top ten hit in 1972 with "Whiskey In The Jar" (their reworking of the traditional Irish drinking song). This was the success that provided the opportunity to play the ballroom on Sunday 27th February 1972 supporting 'Arrival' alongside another band called 'Barabbas'.

Several years later when Lizzy lost original guitarist Eric Bell, Lynott brought in two players, American Scott Gorham and Scotsman Brian Robertson. While the latter was replaced by a string of players over Lizzy's career (including Gary Moore, Snowy White, Midge Ure, and eventually John Sykes) the move to have two main guitarists playing harmony leads proved to be their signature sound. According to Gorham, not only did new guitarists have to be good musicians, they also had to bring in a bit of their own unique style.

Lizzy's biggest break hit in 1976 with the classic track "The Boys Are Back In Town" from the album Jailbreak. Lizzy worked constantly releasing strong albums with more hit singles, however, hard living, drug abuse, and continuous touring eventually wore down the band. It was announced in 1982 that the tour for the album Thunder and Lightning would be their farewell and as luck would have it, Lizzy was once again on top. The year-long tour had them playing the major halls throughout Europe and Japan, along with the headlining spot at the Reading Festival. Despite sounding better than ever, Lizzy played their last show together on September 4th, 1983 at Germany's Monsters Of Rock Festival.

In the years to follow, Lynott collaborated with other musicians and fronted a new band called Grand Slam, but the band never made its mark, nor was Lynott able to live beyond his Lizzy legacy. Phil Lynott died on the 4th of January 1986, from heart failure and pneumonia from years of drug abuse. He was only 35.

Fortunately, the post Lizzy years proved fruitful for its other members. Sykes went on to join Whitesnake and record the band's best selling albums, Slide It In and Whitesnake '87. He then formed Blue Murder and followed through with a successful string of solo releases. Scott Gorham returned to London and started doing session work with friends before forming his own band, 21 Guns.

Yet while each member was busy doing their own projects, they reformed in 1994 to do a series of shows to honour Lynott's name. The Response was so overwhelming, it was obvious that people still wanted to hear Phil Lynott's music, the music that Thin Lizzy created. In 2000, the band released One Night Only, marking the first live album under the Thin Lizzy moniker in close to seventeen years. Recorded on their European tour, the members of Thin Lizzy pay homage to their celebrated past with a new fire and prove their songs have stood the test of time. It also marks the beginning of a new chapter for the band with a world wide tour to follow. As for the future, Gorham and Sykes together are enforcing that Thin Lizzy's magic will always remain.

In 2003 - 2004 The Boys Are Back In Town again with their Global Chaos Tour as well as doing North American dates with the legendary Deep Purple on their bananas tour. With Scott Gorham, John Sykes and the phenomenal rhythm section of Michael Lee on drums and Randy Gregg on bass, Thin Lizzy will hit as many countries as possible to once again honor Phil Lynott's legacy.

Scottish 'new wave' band formed in Stirling, Scotland circa 1979. Played supports with Simple Minds & The Skids amongst others and signed with Safari records for 2 singles 'Close Up' / 'Regular Sex' (1981) & Sorry Sorry (1982) and an eponymous album on Attic records in 1982.

They recorded some radio sessions including for Radio 1 where Sorry Sorry received extensive air play and peaked at #5 in the UK Independent Charts. The album also attracted some attention oversees but by this time the band had split in 1982.

They became the last band to play 'The Kinema Ballroom' with it's original moniker on August 7th 1980 before it became 'Night Magic'.

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Few in 1963 would have expected that three talented teenage girls from Philadelphia would come together to form the origin of a group that would continue into the next century, but that was the beginning of the Three Degrees, an act that, through more than 40 years and multiple line-ups, has become one of the most internationally popular and long lasting Soul groups in history.

Fayette Pinckney, Linda Turner, Shirley Poole, then in their early teens, were brought together by veteran writer/producer Richard Barrett as the vehicles for his vision of creating the next great girl group. Turner and Poole were quickly replaced by Helen Scott and Janet Harmon, and Barrett began the process of moulding the trio into a regional favourite, training them extensively and booking them at record shops and talent contests throughout the Eastern United States.

The group was signed by Philly-based Swan Records in the mid-60s and scored a regional hit with “Gee Baby,” working with a number of great local musicians, some of whom would become the backbone of the Philadelphia soul movement of the 70s. In 1966 Scott temporarily left the group and was replaced by Sheila Ferguson, already an accomplished solo singer, and Valerie Holiday took over Harmon’s slot. The act was then signed by Roulette Records and in 1970 scored their first major national hit, a top 5 remake of the Chantels’ “Maybe.” They followed later that year with the popular “You’re the One,” and landed a brief appearance singing in the Gene Hackman hit movie The French Connection.

A major career move for the Three Degrees was their signing by Gamble & Huff’s up-and-coming Philadelphia International Records in 1972. They made an immediate splash with the disco hit “Dirty Ol’ Man” before joining with MFSB (the Philadelphia International house band) to record the Soul Train theme song “TSOP,” which became an across-the-board #1 hit. They then followed the next year with what would become their signature song, the sophisticated ballad “When Will I See You Again,” one of the greatest songs ever to come from Philadelphia, and the group’s biggest international hit.

The Three Degrees continued with moderate success at PIR before moving over to Epic Records in 1975 and then to Ariola. During the next decade their success in the U.S. was limited but they became bigger than ever in the U.K., where they continued to score with hits such as “Giving Up, Giving In” and “Woman In Love.” Prince Charles proclaimed them his favourite group (they were guests at his wedding to Princess Diana) and they were consequently labelled by the British Press as “Charlie’s Angels.”

Helen Scott rejoined the group (replacing Pinckney) in 1976, and the line-up of Scott, Ferguson and Holiday continued for a decade, when Ferguson left the group, ultimately being replaced with Cynthia Garrison and resulting in the line-up (Valerie Holiday, Helen Scott and Cynthia Garrison) that continues to this day. The group continued to record throughout the 90s, their most recent release being a 1998 Christmas album.

The influence and popularity of The Three Degrees is sometimes lost on US audiences who are largely familiar with the group for only one great song, but the trio has played an important role in bringing Soul music to the world and continues to be considered around the globe as one of the most important ambassadors of American Soul Music, more than four decades after its modest origin.

After Andy performed the Cat Stevens hit ‘Father and Son’ on a BBC pilot show The producer suggested that Steve and Ant join Andy in a trio. Their debut single ‘Take It Easy’ (April 2002) peaked at #11 in the UK main chart and the follow up, ‘Touch Me Tease Me’ (September 2002) found #16, Sony dropped them.

Not to be discouraged, Andy Scott-Lee entered ITV's reality singer show ‘Pop Idol’ in 2003 and reached the final 10 before the public de-selected him.

(Steve, Andy and Ant’s sister is former ‘Steps’ member Lisa Scott-Lee who manages the group).

Although this group took its name from their keyboard player it was (former 'Who' roadie) John Keen that sang vocals and wrote much of their material. Songwriter, Keen had written the song 'Armenian City In The Sky' for the Who and was subsequently encouraged by Pete Townshend to form the group. It was Pete Townshend who produced their massive UK#1 'Something In the Air' which was originally entitled 'Revolution' but later renamed because The Beatles released a single of the same name. He arranged its strings, played its bass under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, and hired for it a General Post Office (GPO) engineer and Dixieland jazz pianist Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman and the fifteen year old Glaswegian lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch who became the youngest ever Scot to play on a number 1 single!

For live performance Keen & Newman were joined by Avory on bass & Jack McCulloch (Jimmy's elder brother) on drums.

National and international tours with followed, and one tour supporting Deep Purple. In the UK and US, a follow-up single, 'Accidents' / 'See It All' (Track 2094 001), came out in May 1970, and charted at No. 44 for only a week, but did not chart at all in the USA. In 1970 they released two further singles 'Wild Country' / 'Hollywood' and 'The Reason' / 'Stormy Petrel'.

An album, 'Hollywood Dream' was also released.

Sadly, the group were never able to repeat the success of their original single and the group split at the end of 1971. Jimmy McCulloch eventually joined Paul McCartney's 'Wings' and John 'Speedy' Keen began a solo career, as did Newman, before concentrating on producing.

The Time Frequency or TTF (formed 1988 and originally called Thru The Fire) were the first techno band from Scotland. They quickly established a strong club fan base by touring Scotland extensively to packed houses.

They had had seven UK chart entries like ‘The Power Zone EP’ #17 and ‘Real Love’ #8 both in 1993 although by the third quarter of the year fans began to lose faith and accusations of profiteering were levied at founder Jon Campbell for re-releasing ‘Real Love’.

Band members became weary of constant arguments and cracks appeared resulting in Mary Kiani’s replacement with Debbie Millar from Bournemouth.

They released only one album ‘Dominator’ in 1994 (UK #23) and @Real Love’ would be re-released a second time, to chart for a third time at #43!

Born and bred in Dundee and formed at some point in 1973, their first gig was the Marine Ballroom Arbroath on April 6th 1974 under the band name 'Sky Church'. This was later changed to 'Tivvy' in June 1974. (The band name was simply taken from the nickname of their first roadie Euan Teviotdale when the band were stuck for a new name.

They played contemporary covers changing over the years from hard rock to funk / disco / soul / whatever, back to hard rock and then to new wave / punk and practised in the Kirkton area of the town.

Like a lot of other bands at that time they played the north east gig circuit of agent Gordon Wilson, playing town hall type gigs in places like Banff, Macduff, Portsoy, Elgin, Keith, Huntly, Fraserburgh and all points north of Aberdeen. They also worked with Unicorn Artistes in Glasgow where they played gigs around the central belt.

By far the biggest gig they played was in the Caird Hall Dundee where they played support to Slik & Christian. They also played support for Salvation, Rokotto & Bilbo Baggins.

In 1975 their manager Jim Lambie put them forward for auditions for the hugely popular TV talent show 'Opportunity Knocks' scheduled for 1976. Although none of the band thought they were right for this show, they just did the audition anyway and after another audition in 1977 they were surprisingly selected for the show in early 1978. However, by this time, they were on to new wave / punk covers but were told they had to perform the same song from the audition a year earlier.

The Tivvy line-up comprising Alec Martin, Bob Kelly, Jim Ogg & Bruce Money appeared on 'Opportunity Knocks' in March 1978 playing 'Art for Art’s Sake' by '10cc' but only managed fourth place on the public vote. It seems a quick change mime artist was more appealing at that time than a rock band doing a 10cc cover!

Tivvy actually changed the band name to 'Press Gang' at some point in 1977 and also used this name after the Opportunity Knocks appearance, but some agents still advertised them with the 'Tivvy' name.

They disbanded on good terms in late summer of 1978 when Alec moved to the Edinburgh area. In 1981 they got back together to record a couple of original songs at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh.

In 1985, Alec had moved back to Dundee and they reformed again for a brief period as 'Tivvy' and played gigs in the Dundee pub scene at the time.

Bob remembers the Kinema as having a huge stage with a dressing room behind ... A Great gig!

It seems my request for info has stirred the members into getting in touch with one-another and Tivvy decided to reform in November 2012 (despite Bruce's 1964 precision bass being stolen from his car on the way in to the gig!) with some more gigs planed for 2013. Great stuff guys! BTW the bass was recovered later ... but at a price!

They were by far the most prolific performers at the ballroom having played on some 3779 occasions between 1946 & 1958! They also played on Scottish Television's 'Dance Party Roof' programme.

Jack Richardson led the band until around 1949 when he and his family emigrated to Australia.

Friday 18th January 1957 saw the first of five Friday-night competitions to find a new vocalist for The Top Notchers. The final was won by Mr. Stuart Cameron on Friday 15th February 1957. Stuart had previously worked with The Frankie Smith Band and The Alex Sinclair Band. He later moved on to another residency with The Bill Archer Band at The St Margaret's Hall and The Burntisland Palais.

Billy Hunter received a medal award from The Melody Maker as The Best Trumpet Player In Scotland! (See image above).

Tommy Wallace (senior) is father to Tommy Wallace (junior) who played drums with The Red Hawks. He also has three other sons and a grandson, all of whom play drums! Tommy Wallace (senior) still plays occasionally, at the tender age of 87!

Bill Torrance is a Scottish radio & television presenter/broadcaster and entertainer (originally from Ayrshire) and is probably best known for hosting the hugely popular BBC Scotland 'Beechgrove Garden' television gardening series (the longest running gardening series in the UK) for 10 years around the 1990s.

In addition to presenting radio shows on Northsound 2 & Dundee's Tay AM and hosting Jamie's Scottish Evening (Scotland's longest running stage show) for in excess of 20 years at the Thistle Edinburgh Hotel where he also sings, he also finds time for a considerable number of 'voice-overs' for TV and radio commercials and audio book recordings.

He has recorded a number of CDs and was Head of Presentation for Radio Forth for 15 years.

The Torpedoes (later known as 'The Buzzards') were from Dunfermline area and played a mix of covers and increasingly their own brand of pub / hard rock. The Buzzards supported 'Mowgli and the Donuts' at the Kinema in 1980 but the date is as yet unconfirmed.

This trio was from Edinburgh. Shortly afterwards two members of the group formed a band called Both Sides (unrelated to the Dundee-based group of the same name). Lead singer of Town Choice, Harry Cullen became manager of the Oxford Bar in Edinburgh.

Town Choice were of eight finalists in the 1971 Scottish Folk Group Annual Championship (the dream child of Bill Houston and Watt Nicoll which was never repeated). There were an astonishing 140 acts and eighteen heats, with semi finals being held in Glasgow and Dundee, and the grand final in the Usher Hall Edinburgh, with The Corries as guest artists. All proceeds went to the Scottish Council for the Care of Spastics.The winners of the Championship were The JSD Band, whose prize was an album deal and contract with EMI. Town Choice were 2nd.

Town Choice & the other six finalists received six-month contracts and were featured on an LP 'Folk Philosophy' performing the following songs: 'Kid's Colour Bar' (Harvey Andrews) & 'For Bobbie' (H J Deutschendorfer).

They were spotted one night playing in a hotel in Oban where the crew in the Michael Caine/Kirk Douglas film “Catch me a Spy” were staying (Jimmy Powell was an extra for 6 days at £3.50 per day). The end result was that they flew the band to Paris in May and December 1971 to play live on TV with Joan Baez, Petula Clark and Manitas de Plata.

T'Pau was a late-1980s rock group who originated from the towns of Shrewsbury and Wellington in central England. They had a string of top 20 hits in the UK, and several hits in the United States and Europe. The band took their name from a Star Trek character and formed in 1986.

T'Pau's first hit was the 1987 single "Heart and Soul", which reached Number 4 in both the UK and US charts. The following year, the band had their biggest hit with the ballad "China in Your Hand," which spent five weeks at Number One in the UK charts and also claimed the top slots in several European countries, although the song made little impact on the US charts.

They had a number of smaller hits which made it to at least the UK Top 20, including the singles "Valentine", "Sex Talk", "I Will Be With You", and "Secret Garden".

Their 1987 album Bridge of Spies (the album was called T'Pau in the US) won the best album and single award at the 1988 British record industry awards, and was a best seller.

The band failed to maintain their success and split in 1991, but Decker reformed the band with a new line-up in 1998 and T'Pau have in recent years attempted a comeback.

In May 2005, Carol Decker reached the final round of the ITV show Hit Me Baby One More Time, singing the T'Pau hit China In Your Hand.

The Trad Lads were a 'band-within-a-band' all the musicians being part of the famous 'Northern Dance Orchestra' (resident band for the BBC in Manchester from 1950s-70s). The original line-up contained members who would go on to be ultra-famous musicians. They evolved a very convincing Dixieland sound ... more Dixieland than the old Trad.

'The Trad Lads' appeared on TV/Radio with The Beatles a few times.

My thanks to Joe Silmon-Monerri for the info above and to Davy M lowe for sourcing it!Find info on joe here: 'Joe Silmon - The Making, Breaking and Repair of a British Jazzman'

Trance Dance were a Swedish pop group who had a number of hits in the late 1980s. The group were somewhat rock-influenced, with their music being driven by guitars and other instruments not fully characteristic of a late 1980s pop group. Despite their name, their music did not resemble trance at all.

Trance Dance were formed in Sweden in 1985 as a seven-piece group. Ben Marlene had previously been in the Finnish group French Kiss, who existed between 1982 and 1984 and made two albums. Marlene and the Holmström sisters are swedish speaking Finns.

The group's first album, A-Ho-Ho, was released in Sweden in late 1986 and in USA in February 1987, making number 19 on the Swedish album chart. The albums spawned the two singles "Do The Dance" and "Hoodoo Wanna Voodoo", and despite receiving a fair amount of airplay in clubs, they failed to chart in their native Sweden.

Despite this, their first hit came in October of that year, with "Don't Say Go" making number 2 in the singles chart. The follow-up single, "You're Gonna Get It", also reached number 2 in early 1988. "You're Gonna Get It" would prove to be their most successful single.

Their second album Dancing in the Shadows charted in March 1988, reaching number 4. Their third single "Joy Toy" would only reach number 13 in the singles chart, however, and the quickly-released (in November 1988) third album Off the Record would flop by only reaching number 27. Their final charting single, "Push", reached number 15 in May 1989.

With their popularity declining, Trance Dance fell out of the spotlight, charting for the final time with a greatest hits album, Greatest Hits Vol. 1. The album, released in February 1990, peaked at a lowly number 50 in the album chart.

Formed in 1969 in Wolverhampton, England Trapeze were a hard rock band, two of which were ex Montanas. Their eponymous debut album was released in 1970. Shortly thereafter Rowley & Jones rejoined The Montanas. Following disappointing sales of their second album 'Medusa' and third 'You Are the Music...We're Just the Band' (1972) Hughes left for Deep Purple to be replaced by Pete Wright. The addition of Rob Kendrick preceded their fourth album in 1974 'Hot Wire'.

Other albums followed until their demise in late 1978. They reformed in 1991.

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The Travelling People were formed in the mid to late 60s and are still performing now, making them folk veterans of some 40-odd years! As the name suggests they travel throughout Scotland to play and sing their brand of Scots, Irish and American folk songs together with a smattering of bluegrass and swing and a story or two to glue it all beautifully together.

8th February 1979 - Supporting 'The Skids' at The Marquee, Wardour St London19th March 1979 - Supporting 'The Skids’ British Tour at Tiffany’s (Edinburgh) – 2 shows.3rd May 1979 - With The Visitors, The Fakes, TV Art (later, Josef K) & Delinx at The Unitas Hall Dunfermline (Members of The Skids were there and joined Trax on stage to play ‘Of One Skin’ with them).10th May 1979 - Supporting 'The Fall' at The Astoria (Edinburgh).13th Dec 1979 - With 'The Cuban Heels' at Dundee College of Education.

To quote Gary Bushell of UK national weekly music newspaper 'Sounds' in an article entitled 'Scotland Uber Alles' dated November 3rd 1979:

"TRAX are a punchy Dunfermline five piece labouring under a falsely ascribed Skids copyist label (the first single 'Home' is the most Skidsoian number in their set, honest). 'I saw them play the last night I was in Edinburgh - and their 13 song strong set was well-impressive. Sinewy modern rock is the aptest description for their driving, impressive, bursting, bruiser of a sound. One to catch."

Trax were centred on Dunfermline, Scotland and first appeared in February 1978 with original drummer Neil Thomson, as 'Straits', playing a variety of power-pop covers and original tunes around Fife including three gigs as 'The Zips'. They played with other local band The Delinquents (later 'Delinx' - featuring a young Bruce Watson - later of 'Big Country') amongst others and support duties included several dates with 'The Skids'.

I always thought Stuart Adamson had quite a soft spot for Trax. After Ricky (Jobson) & Stuart saw them play a local gig, they offered the band the support slot for the Scottish dates of their forthcoming 1979 UK tour and a date at the famous Marquee Club in Wardour Street London on 8th February 1979. This was later expanded to all twenty dates of the tour and the decision was made to go professional. Unfortunately the drummer preferred to play Scottish Schools rugby and the tour was lost except for The Marquee, the two shows at Tiffany’s in Edinburgh on Monday 19th March and the Kinema on the 25th March 1979, which unsurprisingly turned out to be Neil Thomson’s last show with the band.

It was on that momentous night at The Marquee, when cognisance of another band (five girls from York) called 'Straits' hit home just hours before the gig. Panic set in and a hasty name change saw them take the stage as 'Trax'.

Their touring schedule continued throughout 1979, totalling more than 70 gigs with new drummer Tony Taylor, who joined April 1979, having previously played with local rock outfit 'Charybdis'. The 21st of September 1979 saw the first of two batches of 1000 three-track 'Home EP's released with picture sleeve (on their own indie label 'Lonely Records') entirely financed by their manager Sandy and members of the band. Recording sessions took place at Cargo Studios, 16, Kenion Street, Rochdale on 14th July 1979 (coordinated by Johnny Waller who later wrote for 'Sounds'). Cargo Studios is famous for bands such as The Duritti Column, DAF, A Certain Ratio, The Gang Of Four, Scars, Dead or Alive, DAF, The Diagram Brothers, The Mekons, The teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order, Nico, Comsat Angels, Orchestral Manoeuvres, The Stone Roses, James & The Gang of Four while Joy Division recorded 'Atmosphere' there and The Fall believe they recorded some of their best music there.

Trax' 7" 'Home EP' was engineered by the studio's owner, John Brierley and the first thousand pressings sold-out rapidly, swiftly becoming Radio Forth's Record Of The Week and enjoying three airings by John Peel at BBC Radio One. A further 1000 copies were hastily pressed and many sold through Rough Trade in London. Late delivery of the picture sleeves caused a considerable problem and an article appeared in the regular consumer column 'Fair Deal' in 'Sounds' on January 26th 1980.

The 'Home EP' was seen recently for sale in at online shop for $200 (Aus) or £106!

They were often accused of being too similar to The Skids however, as can be seen from the quote above, by the time of Garry Bushell’s ‘Sounds’ piece, they had very largely emerged from The Skids’ shadow and had developed their own sonic identity. This perception was never particularly accurate anyway and stemmed from their shared hometown and press laziness when describing them, preferring to pigeonhole rather than write original, imaginative text.

Several times the stage was shared with 'Delinx' and 'The Subject' (featuring Peter Wishart, later of 'Runrig' and after that the SNP!). Other notable gigs took place with 'The Fall' at the Astoria Edinburgh, 'Another Pretty Face', 'The Revillos', 'The Cuban Heels' & 'The Freeze' until personal differences resulted in a protracted disintegration, which accelerated when Tony Taylor split in January 1980.

Another Tony (Whelan) was swiftly drafted in as replacement drummer in February 1980 from 'The Cadets' but plans for a month-long UK tour in May via the 'Cosmos' agency collapsed. Their final demise took place on 14th July 1980, seven weeks after their last gig (with The Rude Boys) when Willie left followed by Deke & Tony following arguments over dedication to practice sessions. Unfortunately nothing came of attempts to regroup despite Bruce Watson auditioning for the position of bass player! (He then got a phone call from Stuart Adamson and embryonic sessions for Big Country got underway).

Neill, Willie, Deke, Tony & Willie Gardner of The Zones formed a band (almost called Geneva) but it never got off the ground.

During their short life, 'Trax'/'Straits' wrote around 40 original songs (of which I have 30 recorded - the last two were never entitled) and covered material by The Pirates (All in it Together), The Buzzcocks (Get On Our Own), The Motors (Bring In The Morning Light & Dancing The Night Away), The Stranglers (London Lady) & Dr Feelgood (Back In The Night). By far their most popular cover was the Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers song, 'One Track Mind'.

Willie Adamson continued to pursue a musical career with '7 West' & 'Shine' for a while and still lives in Fife.

Derek Armstrong now teaches English in Thailand and with fellow teacher Mike Anderson, formed a band called 'Seu-uh Sooay' which is Thai for Beautiful Shirts. They have played a few gigs around Bangkok (even playing a few in Thai). The band at present consists of: Derek (guitar and vocals), Mike Anderson (vocals, tamboutine shakers, percussion) and Jock (who is Thai and plays various Thai instruments). They played a charity concert for Tsunami victims shortly after the disaster. (I'm indebted to Mike Anderson for the above).

Tony Whelan played in a couple of small Edinburgh bands, the best known of which was 'The Wild Indians' who released an own-label EP. He then joined Liverpool band 'Care'. They were mainly 'Wild Swans' front man Paul Simpson and Iain Broudie from 'The Original Mirrors'/'Big In Japan' (who later formed 'The Lightning Seeds') . After a couple of modestly successful singles and an unreleased album (later released as 'Diamond and Emeralds' to exploit Broudie's success) Care broke up in 1983. Tony still lives & works in central Scotland.

I've never been out of touch with Neill Martin (keyboards) but back in 2009 I managed to track down Tony Taylor (drums) and Derek Armstrong (bass) and we had a highly nostalgic meeting/meal/drink in Edinburgh to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Home EP! There's also a plan to do it all over again in Summer 2013 - Ghoulz

2009 Reunion!

L-R L-R L-R Derek Neill Neill Ghoulz Deke DerekTony Tony

Click the red flashing light for Ghoulz' memory of Trax with 'The Skids' at the ballroom on Sunday 23rd March 1979.

Straits/Trax original compositions:Better To CryDavidDaylightDesolation AreaDon't BelieveDon't ListenEdith (Lonely Girl)Gonna Be A Star (Straits)Hand To HoldHangoverHome (from the Home EP)I'm In Love With A Ugandan Asian (Straits)Ignore ThemLate Night Call Out (from the Home EP)London's CallingLosin' Out (from the Home EP)Lost For An Image (Straits)My Baby & I (Straits)Never A DayNever AloneNever Pass This WayNew WorldNights Of FearNothingPart Time Pop Star (Straits)Picture ViewRichard WorksSee You LaterSex SymbolsStuck On YouSuch Foolish ThingsUntitled #1Untitled #2Watching People Play (reworking of Never Pass This Way)Weekend Hero (Straits)You Don't Understand

When Brian Poole parted company with the Tremeloes it looked as though the group would struggle for survival without him. However, whereas Poole sank almost without trace by the end of the 1960s, the Tremeloes continued in the same hit making vein they had when Brian Poole had shared the stage with them.

Shortly after the split the Tremeloes also suffered a further personnel change leading to an eventual new bass player, Len 'Chip' Hawkes (born November 1946 in London). This change brought with it a competent vocalist and they began building an impressive list of chart entries which ran on in to the early 1970s.

The group though popular were hardly progressive or innovative. Sadly, in an effort to show that they were changing and becoming more progressive they denounced their earlier material, alienating some fans. This may have hastened their demise, and by 1974 the band had dispersed.

They have since reformed and played in The Carnegie Hall Dunfermline with Brian Poole.

'The Trendsetters' were formed in November 1963. In 1964 they changed their name to 'Hedgehoppers' in reference to low-flying as four of the five members were Royal Air Force pilots at RAF Wittering. When record producer Jonathan King became their manager in 1965 the name was changed once more to 'Hedgehoppers Anonymous'. He wrote the satirical protest song 'It's good News Week' Decca (1965) which became a #5 (and their only) UK chart hit from five released.

Early promotional copies of the record included lyrics about 'blood in Asia' and 'butchering the sacred cow'. These were thought to be too offensive and changed on the officially issued version at the insistence of the record company to lyrics concerning famine and birth control.

Artie Trezise (from St Andrews) started out his professional life as a teacher before deciding to add professional commitments to his family ones. He married Cilla Fisher (sister of Archie Fisher) in 1974 and they turned professional.

Together they have appeared in many festivals throughout the world including Europe, the Far East, Australia, Canada and America and released several albums during the seventies culminating in the award for ‘The Melody Maker Folk Album of the Year – 1979’ for ‘Cilla and Artie’.

Based in Kirkintilloch & formed by school-mates Graham Hendry & Campbell Burns back in 1983, Trident were joined by Martin McGuire & Tommy Wilson where they became one of 'the best' live bands in Scotland throughout a big chunk of the 80's.

At a time when the rock world had gone all 'spandex & silk-scarf silly', Trident flew the flag for real rock 'n' roll music with their no-nonsense approach to their music & live shows. There just wasn't a better live gig in town when these lads were around ... so much so that they opened the Radio Clyde Kelvingrove Festival in 1987 with such a bang that they were invited back the following year to top the bill! In 1987 they also released a five-track cassette EP 'Cheap & Nasty' for the pricely sum of £3!

Trident were on fire at this time, but as record company interest grew ... the band began to feel they were losing their edge after 5 solid years of rocking all over Scotland and disbanded at the end of the 1980s. But you couldn't keep a good head-bangin' band down for long ... and they were soon back playing live on and off through the 1990s ... which saw a two-year period where Jim Jamieson (Ex 'Centurion' front man) take over on lead vocal for the recording of 'The Answer' album...which included some of the best solid rock songs the boys had ever recorded.

In the early part of 2000 the old band reformed for some gigs around Glasgow until 2006 when it really was time to pull the curtain down on the classic line-up. This is dedicated to all of those good people who were there ... and made it such a hell of a time to be a rockin' band in Glasgow in the 80's!

The Troggs had a primitive rock and roll sound for the late 1960s; doubtless some of their numbers would have sounded right if played almost ten years earlier. Their strong Hampshire accents enhanced their rustic appeal and they were never overburdened with an expectation to be 'progressive' despite the era. They had started life as the Troglodytes, but after the loss of two members and gaining Britton and Staples from the remnant of a group called 'Ten Foot Five', they abbreviated to the Troggs.

The group signed to the management of Larry Page who secured them an opportunity to record with CBS. Unfortunately, the resulting single - both sides of which had been written by Reg Ball- was largely ignored by record buyers. However, by then Page had started his new 'Page One' recording company and had secured distribution through Fontana. The group's next single 'Wild Thing' proved to be a refreshing contrast to the songs being produced by other bands of the time and it gave them their first hit going all the way to #2. The band then followed this with another Ball original, only by this time he had adopted the name Presley. Its sound contrasted well with their first hit and took them to #1, effectively consolidating their position as chartbreakers. A string of hits followed which further underpinned their songwriting skills, particularly those of Presley.

However, by 1968 the group's popularity had waned and though the flow of singles continued unabated the hits were absent. By the early 1970s the Troggs became subject to major personnel changes, but none improved their fortunes. They continued as a live act however, but as the 1970s drew to a close so too did the supply of 45s.

The Truth were a British duo from London who took their name from a Ray Charles song, “Tell The Truth”. They recorded for Larry Page and their recordings were issued on Pye then Deram and finally Decca. They were not a song writing unit and their singles were cover versions of songs by Donovan, The Kinks, The Left Banke and The Beatles. They stopped recording in 1968.

Steve Gold later legally changed his name to Steve Jameson and re-emerged in 1974 with a top 40 hit “Goodbye, Nothing To Say” under the name Nosmo King And The Javells. He has more recently turned to comedy and performs under the pseudonym Sol Bernstein.

Formed in 1961 in Falkirk, their line-up took some time to settle as they were formed from a number of other local outfits. They were a busy outfit with residencies at The Cowdenbeath Palais and at The Raith Ballroom in Kirkcaldy which meant playing 4-5 nights a week and they made several appearances on television too.

"With songs that tell tales of unhinged northern street life, dripping with sardonic humour and reckless desperation, Twisted Wheel are taking their incendiary, compulsive, no holds barred, live set on another national tour".

Named after Manchester's northern soul nightclub, Twisted Wheel are a gritty indie rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England, formed in February 2007 by Jonny Brown and Rick Lees. Their first gig followed only a week later and less than a year later they signed to Columbia Records.

Their debut single, 'She's A Weapon', was released in April 2008 just before they retired into the studio in June to record the eponymous debut album 'Twisted Wheel'. They then released a five-track EP 'You Stole The Sun' in July 2008 before embarking on some serious live work including festivals and supports for Kasabian, The Pigeon Detectives, The View, Oasis and The Enemy.

The next two singles were 'Lucy The Castle' released in November 2008 and 'We Are Us', released in March 2009. The album was released on 13 April 2009 and peaked in the UK album chart at #45.

More releases are eagerly awaited with an EP and second album on the horizon for 2010 as well as rumours of an additional band member.

"The band describe themselves as a mixture of 70s punk (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers) and 60s rock and roll (Rolling Stones, Kinks, The Who) with a pinch of Oasis thrown in".